But have you heard about the Mitsubishi i MiEV? It actually was the first widely available EV. According to Wikipedia,

The Mitsubishi i MiEV (MiEV is an acronym for Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle[3]) is a five-door hatchback electric car produced by Mitsubishi Motors. The i MiEV was launched for fleet customers in Japan in July 2009, and on April 1, 2010, for the wider public. Sales to the public in Hong Kong began in May 2010 and sales to fleet customers in Australia began in August 2010 via leasing.

The i MiEV was launched in Germany in December 2010. Sales in the U.K. began in January 2011 at a price of GB £28,990 (~US$45,100) before the GB £5,000 Plug-in Car Grant. The i MiEV was launched in Costa Rica in February 2011 and in Chile in May 2011. Sales in Canada are scheduled for late 2011 and U.S. sales for January 2012. The American-only version, called “i”, is larger than the Japanese version and has several additional features.

This recent press release (Japanese) from July 6 talks about some new i MiEV stuff: in Japan, they have created two trim levels, M and G. G has a longer range (180 km vs. 120 km), more power (47 kW vs. 30 kW), and some other goodies.

Check out the video, too. It’s from England, where the i MiEV is currently available.

The i MiEV is scheduled for launch in the US in 2012. That same year the Fit EV, Honda plug-in hybrid, and Prius plug-in hybrid will become available in the US. It’s going to be a very interesting year for the automobile industry.

If you should happen to have an i MiEV in the US already, we will be happy to ship it for you to or from any of the states that are not Alaska or Hawaii.